---

The information in this profile may be out-of-date. It was last revised in 1996. EXTOXNET no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Please visit the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) to find updated pesticide fact sheets. If you don't find a fact sheet related to your question, feel free to call 1-800-858-7378. NPIC is open five days a week from 8:00am to 12:00pm Pacific Time.

---

E X T O X N E T

Extension Toxicology Network

Pesticide Information Profiles

A Pesticide Information Project of Cooperative Extension Offices of Cornell University, Oregon State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of California at Davis and the Institute for Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University. Major support and funding was provided by the USDA/Extension Service/National Agricultural Pesticide Impact Assessment Program.

EXTOXNET primary files maintained and archived at Oregon State University

Revised June 1996

Fenoxycarb

Trade and Other Names: Trade names for products containing fenoxycarb include Comply, Insegar, Logic, Pictyl, Torus, and Varikill.

Regulatory Status: Fenoxycarb is a practically non-toxic pesticide in EPA toxicity class IV. It is a General Use Pesticide (GUP), and labels for products containing it must bear the Signal Word CAUTION.

Chemical Class: carbamate

Introduction: Fenoxycarb is a non-neurotoxic carbamate insect growth regulator used to control a wide variety of insect pests. It is used as a fire ant bait and for flea, mosquito, and cockroach control, and can also be used to control butterflies, moths, beetles, and scale and sucking insects on olives, vines, cotton, and fruit. It is also used to control these pests on stored products, and is often formulated as a grit or corncob bait. Fenoxycarb blocks the ability of an insect to change into the adult stage from the the juvenile stage (metamorphosis). It also interferes with larval molting, the periodic shedding or molting of the old exoskeleton and production of a new, larger one.

Formulation: It is also used to control these pests on stored products, and is often formulated as a grit or corncob bait.

Toxicological Effects:

• Acute toxicity: Fenoxycarb is practically non-toxic to mammals via the oral route. The oral LD50 of the compound is greater than 10,000 mg/kg in rats [10]. It is slightly to practically nontoxic via the dermal route, with a reported dermal LD50 in the rat of greater than 2000 mg/kg [10]. When 2000 mg/kg were administered to the animals' skin, rats exhibited labored breathing, curved body position, and diarrhea, but no deaths occurred [3]. Fenoxycarb is not a skin sensitizer in guinea pigs and causes only minimal eye irritation when applied to rabbits [10]. The inhalation toxicity of fenoxycarb is moderate, with an acute inhalation LC50 in rats of greater than 0.480 mg/L [10].
• Chronic toxicity: Rats fed very low doses of fenoxycarb for a year had no compound-related effects at or below the 10 mg/kg/day dose. Dogs fed the compound at doses of 15.9 mg/kg/day or below for 1 1/2 months experienced no adverse effects [15]. Similar results were noted for the compound in mice (1.4 mg/kg) and in rats (0.8 mg/kg/day) over a longer period [36].
• Reproductive effects: No data are currently available.
• Teratogenic effects: With an unknown species, there were no teratogenic effects observed at doses of up to 300 mg/kg/day [36].
• Mutagenic effects: According to the Environmental Protection Agency, fenoxycarb is not mutagenic [36].
• Carcinogenic effects: No data are currently available.
• Organ toxicity: The liver is the primary organ affected by fenoxycarb in long-term animal studies [36].

• Fate in humans and animals: About 90% of a dose of fenoxycarb fed to rats was excreted within 96 hours. No residues were found in the animals' organs [36].

Ecological Effects:

• Effects on birds: Fenoxycarb is practically nontoxic to birds [3]. The compound has LD50s greater than 3000 mg/kg and 7000 mg/kg in mallard ducks and bobwhite quail, respectively [10,36]. The dietary LC50 value for bobwhite quail is about 11,000 ppm [36].
• Effects on aquatic organisms: Fenoxycarb is considered moderately to highly toxic to fish with LC50s ranging from 1.6 mg/L in rainbow trout to 10.3 mg/L in carp [10]. Fenoxycarb is also considered highly toxic to the aquatic invertebrate Daphnia and affects growth and reproduction after chronic exposures to >1.6 ng/L [36]. However, when fenoxycarb was applied at rates ranging from 0.015 to 0.03 lbs/acre to ponds, the compound had no effect on a number of different invertebrates including cladocerans, copepods, ostracods, and mayfly nymphs [38]. In one study, bluegill sunfish accumulated 20 times the amount of the compound's concentration in the water. Tissue residues of the pesticide quickly declined after the fish were placed in pesticide-free water [37]. Therefore, it is unlikely that the compound would pose a threat to endangered aquatic organisms or to other organisms that consumed the fish.
• Effects on other organisms: Fenoxycarb is practically nontoxic to bees [10].

Environmental Fate:

• Breakdown in soil and groundwater: Fenoxycarb is of low persistence in the soil environment, with a reported field half-life of one day [13]. It is readily broken down in soil by the chemical action of water (hydrolysis) and by microbial action. The compound also has a low potential for leaching from the soil and has a moderate to strong tendency for soil binding [36]. These characteristics of fenoxycarb in soil indicate that it is unlikely to contaminate groundwater.
• Breakdown in water: The compound is stable to hydrolysis in acidic water. It breaks down very rapidly in the presence of sunlight (photodegrades) in water. Half of the initial amount of the compound is broken down by this means within 5 hours [36]. It readily attaches onto organic matter which may limit its persistence in water. Residues in the water could be detected for only two days following an aerial treatment of ponds for the control of mosquitoes [37].
• Breakdown in vegetation: Fenoxycarb is expected to break down relatively quickly in plants [10].

Physical Properties:

• Appearance: Not Available
• Chemical Name: ethyl 2-(4-phenoxyphenoxy)ethylcarbamate [10]
• CAS Number: 79127-80-3
• Molecular Weight: 301.30
• Water Solubility: 6 mg/L @ 20 C [10]
• Solubility in Other Solvents: s. hexane; v.s. in acetone, chloroform, diethyl ether, and methanol [10]
• Melting Point: 53-54 C [10]
• Vapor Pressure: 0.0078 mPa @ 20 C [10]
• Partition Coefficient: 4.3010 [10]
• AdsorptionCoefficient: 1500 [13]

Exposure Guidelines:

• ADI: Not Available
• MCL: Not Available
• RfD: Not Available
• PEL: Not Available
• HA: Not Available
• TLV: Not Available

Basic Manufacturer:

Ciba-Geigy Corp.
P.O. Box 18300
Greensboro, NC 27419-8300

• Phone: 800-334-9481
• Emergency: 800-888-8372
  

References:

References for the information in this PIP can be found in Reference List Number 3

DISCLAIMER: The information in this profile does not in any way replace or supersede the information on the pesticide product labeling or other regulatory requirements. Please refer to the pesticide product labeling.